One of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful In The World" (1996), Winslet once dated actor Rufus Sewall (born on October 29, 1967) but the couple parted ways in 1996. In the BBC's series Dark Season (1991), Winslet met actor and screenwriter Stephen Tredre (born in 1963; died in December 1997 of bone cancer) and was involved with him until 1995.

In January 2005, Winslet and other Hollywood luminaries, including Teri Hatcher and Charlize Theron, were reported to have given their gowns up for a charity auction. The gowns they wore on the red carpet at the 2005 Golden Globe Awards were donated to benefit the UNICEF Tsunami Relief Fund.

English Rose

Childhood and Family:

"Since I was 13 or 14, I've always felt older than I actually am." Kate Winslet

Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born on October 5, 1975, to a family loaded with acting talent. Father Roger Winslet and mother Sally were actors, while uncle Robert Bridges once played a role in the original West End production of Oliver. Moreover, grandparents Oliver and Linda Bridges were the founders and managers of the Reading Repertory Theater, and sisters Beth (born in May 1978) and Anna (born in 1972) are also actresses. Younger brother Joss (born in 1980) is probably the only one who does not follow the family's track. Born and raised in Reading, England, Kate followed her ancestors by studying the craft of acting at Redroofs School in Maidenhead, U.K.

Kate, nicknamed English Rose, met third assistant film director Jim Threapleton during the production of Hideous Kinky in 1997. The couple became engaged in October of 1998 and were married on November 22, 1998. One year after the birth of daughter Mia (born on October 12, 2000), the pair separated (September 2001). Kate later met American Beauty director Sam Mendes (born on August 1, 1965) and they exchanged wedding vows in May 2003. Together they have one son, Joe Mendes, born on December 22, 2003 in New York.

Titanic Beauty

Career:

"I'd rather do theatre and British films than move to L.A. in hopes of getting small roles in American films."

Initiating her first public appearance at age 11 with the "Honey Monster" on a TV commercial for Sugar Puffs kids' cereal, Kate Winslet then performed on stage in The Secret Diary's adaptations, Adrian Mole and Peter Pan (as Wendy) as well as a production of A Game of Soldiers. She subsequently landed roles on the series Dark Season (1991), the comedy Get Back (1992), as well as appeared in the show Casualty in 1993.

Winslet's silver screen debut came in 1994 when she costarred as delinquent teen Juliet Hulme in Peter Jackson's thriller Heavenly Creatures. She followed it with the starring role of Princess Sarah in the kid's movie A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995).

Film director Ang Lee cast her in his movie adaptation of Jane Austen's romance-comedy novel, Sense and Sensibility (1995). Costarring with such gifted actors as Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant, Kate received rave reviews for her portrayal of Marianne Dashwood and she earned an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. As her star started to shine, Kate nabbed undistinguished roles in 1996, in Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Jude (1996, opposite Christopher Eccleston) and in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (1996, playing Ophelia).

Winslet's superstar status absolutely arrived in 1997 when she was cast in James Cameron's award winning movie, Titanic. Portraying Leonardo DiCaprio's love attraction, Rose Dewitt Bukater, Kate became the youngest actress ever handed two Oscar nominations. In the next years, instead of taking the lead part in the hit films Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Anna and the King (1999), Kate starred in independent films, Gillies MacKinnon's adaptation of Esther Freud's Hideous Kinky and Jane Campion's comedy-drama Holy Smoke (both in 1999). She also lent her voice for Gary Hurst's animated movie, Faeries (1999).

In 2001, Winslet gained reputable praise costarring as Madeleine 'Maddy' LeClerc with Geoffrey Rushin and Joaquin Phoenix in Philip Kaufman's romance-drama Quills. She eventually netted her third Oscar nomination for portraying young Iris Murdoch in Richard Eyre's adaptation of John Bayley's drama Iris (2001). In that same year, moviegoers saw her in Michael Apted's adaptation of Robert Harris' WWII epic Enigma and she also sang for the animated feature Christmas Carol: The Movie. Kate starred in Plunge: The Movie (2003), The Life of David Gale (2003), and Finding Neverland (2004, starring Johnny Depp). She marked her fourth Oscar nomination after playing desperate wife Clementine Kruczynski in Michel Gondry's romance-drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, opposite Jim Carey).

Kate will soon be seen in upcoming films Romance & Cigarettes, All the King's Men, The Marvelous Mabel Stark, and A Doll's House. She is also scheduled to provide her voice for the animated films Gnomeo and Juliet (2006) and Ratropolis (2006), as well as reported to be starring with British comedian Ricky Gervais in Extras, The Office show spin-off.

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